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Recently I tested two nailers introduced in 2008. In keeping with the trend toward more compact framing guns, the SN902XP is Senco's smallest, lightest framer yet. DeWalt's D51850, by contrast, is larger and heavier than any of the company's previous models.
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DeWalt's new Track Saws make it a lot easier to break down sheets of cabinet plywood or MDF.
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The DeWalt Concealer looks both functional and comfortable.
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Whether you are setting up a woodworking shop or just need to dimension trim on a jobsite, a thickness planer is one of the first tools you should buy. Planers come in many sizes, however; the 24-inch width model we use in our shop weighs close to 700 pounds–not a real portable tool. Smaller 12- to...
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When I began working in the building trades some thirty-plus years ago, carpentry tools fell into two categories: basic hand tools and simple electric power tools. I didn't start working with cordless tools until the mid-80s, when I bought my first 9.6-volt, 3 3/8-inch blade cordless saw–more of a...
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As a self-employed contractor in New England for nearly 30 years, I've relied on rotary hammers for as long as I've been in business. As a concrete foundation contractor, I've used them to drill holes for placing rebar into existing foundations to tie into a new pour, and occasionally on new...
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As a professional wood carver, I've had a 4-1/2-inch or 5-inch angle grinder with a carving disc attachment in my hands for six to eight hours a day for the last eight years. Speed, power, and dependability are all important to my productivity (as my wife and I say, 'If I don't carve, we starve.').
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When I was working as a wooden boat builder, there were times that I couldn't tell where my hand ended and my portable planer began; no tool got used more. Since I've used these tools so much, I'm sensitive to their features and performance, and I take poor design and false promises about them...
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A big part of a plumber's or electrician's job is making holes. Through studs, plates, floors, joists, and even roofs, before you can start to run any pipe or pull any wire, you need countless large holes, and you want them fast and with as little effort as possible. So when you're looking to pick...
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Wilton says blade on 10-inch compound saw may come loose; DeWalt says lower blade guard on framing and circular saws may fail to close.